IFC’s new Mekong Region head to drive green growth

The World Bank’s investment arm IFC has appointed Thomas Jacobs as its new country manager for the Mekong region, covering Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

Based in Hanoi, he will focus on supporting the private sector in driving inclusive and sustainable economic growth that helps the countries to achieve their development targets and recover from the impacts of Covid-19.

A US national, Jacobs joined IFC in 2003, and worked across various regions, including Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific Islands. He led innovative initiatives around women's access to finance; micro, small, and medium enterprises; and climate, supporting reforms and policy implementation for private sector-led growth across sectors, including infrastructure, agribusiness, banking, and tourism.

“Working across regions for two decades, Thomas brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to his new role, which will help deepen IFC’s engagements in areas central to the next chapter of the economies in the Mekong countries,” Kim-See Lim, IFC Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement on Monday.

“As the economies recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, Jacobs and his team will continue supporting Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to build back better and greener, unlocking the potential of the private sector to boost productivity, competition and innovation in the economies,” she added.

Jacobs’ priorities include increasing financing for local businesses, expanding renewable energy, and promoting climate-smart initiatives to support countries' climate agenda, IFC said.

“The Asia Pacific region is one where all the talk and commitments out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change will ultimately be won or lost, so a strategic focus for me will be helping countries address their development needs while delivering on their climate pledges,” said Jacobs. “It’s vital to help countries power their future growth in a sustainable way so that economic development does not come at a detrimental cost to the environment.”

Jacobs succeeds Kyle Kelhofer, who has taken on a new role as Senior Country Manager for Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Togo, after serving as the Country Manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos for seven years.

IFC’s investment in Vietnam has ramped up over the past five years, expanding into the real sectors with a focus on infrastructure, renewable energy and agribusiness as well as facilitating climate-smart and innovative initiatives.

In Cambodia, the firm has helped foster a robust and competitive private sector by expanding access to finance for smaller businesses, boosting climate-smart agriculture, and improving sustainable infrastructure services essential to business.

As for Laos, IFC has focused its financing and advisory work on key areas critical to private sector development and economic growth, including financial, connectivity, renewable energy and job creating sectors as well as overall investment climate.